Revival
by Reign of Rayne
Summary: After a terrible war against Aizen and the Quincy, Ichigo finds himself in a rather strange dimension. Realizing that it would be best if his abilities are preserved, Ichigo agrees to be sealed by none other than Death himself. Hundreds of years later, a situation arises that forces Ichigo to be revived. No pairings.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm a fairly big fan of the Soul Eater anime. I don't have the time to read the manga, and though I've heard many times that it's better than the anime, I wanted a nice, closed storyline to use here._ _Here's a short exposition: Ichigo was sealed by Death (willingly) when he landed in the Soul Eater universe hundreds of years ago because he wanted to be in order to talk with his Zanpakuto and recover the power he had lost while traveling. Before getting sealed, Ichigo and Death talked about things and Ichigo learned all about the Soul Eater universe (at least, how it was hundreds of years ago)._

_If you haven't read my other stories and don't know my usual themes, know that Ichigo will be extraordinarily powerful and have all the abilities he possesses in the latest chapters of the Bleach manga. He is a post-Winter War and Quincy war Ichigo in an AU where the worst possible thing happened during the Winter War and it dragged on for around ten years. You guys can guess what kind of guy he is from there._

_That is all. Enjoy._

* * *

><p>"Lord Death, we have a situation."<p>

"Oh? And what would that be, Sid?

"I never lied, that's the kind of man I was., so I'll tell you the truth. The hollows have begun to appear in America."

The rather odd figure of the Grim Reaper considered Sid's words for a few moments, before turning away from the mirror he had been staring at and facing the undead teacher. For once, he appeared to be serious.

"You're sure of this?"

"Of course. I would never have brought you false information, Lord Death—that's the kind of man I was."

"Yes, yes. Now that the Kishin business has been handled, it only seems appropriate that another problem would pop up in its place."

Lord Death wagged a rather blockish finger in the air, confusing Sid because the Reaper didn't appear to be looking at anything in particular.

"Youngsters these days," Lord Death said, his odd tone of voice making it difficult to tell whether he was joking or not, "making life far more interesting than it needs to be."

"Lord Death, sir, do you think we will have to wake him?"

The lord of death made a thoughtful humming noise and didn't answer for several tense seconds. Abruptly, he came to a decision.

"Yes. I shall begin to undo the seals and create a key for you. This may take some time; they have been in place for longer than any of my other seals, after all."

Sid's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

Lord Death paused as he turned around just long enough to answer. "Quite."

As the zombie teacher began walking away, Death called one last thing over his shoulder.

"Oh, one more thing, Sid. When you free him—because he is sealed outside of Death City, and I cannot leave this place—do try not to get killed again. I don't think he will harm you, but one can never be too sure!"

Sid absently wondered how Death could say such things with such a cheery tone of voice. Sometimes, it was more than a little concerning.

* * *

><p>The only light in the narrow stone staircase came from the torch that Sid held in one hand. It flickered and danced, casting constantly shifting shadows upon the walls that did not help Sid's already tense state of mind. The fact that Death had been extraordinarily cryptic in his descriptions of the man Sid was supposed to free—in both power and personality—was not helping Sid's anxiety either.<p>

"I was a man of character," Sid reminded himself quietly, almost without realizing it. "And I would not back down from something like this. I trust Lord Death."

The words died to ominous echoes, quickly swallowed by the darkness that lingered just beyond the reach of Sid's torch. His steps echoed in much the same way no matter how hard Sid tried to keep them quiet. The stone seemed to make every movement louder and harsher than it had to be.

The entrance to the hidden stairwell had been difficult enough to find in the desert, and without Lord Death's key Sid doubted that anyone would be capable of opening the door at all. It had nearly been buried by sand and only Deaths' input via earpiece had allowed Sid to find it at all. Unfortunately, the amount of rock Sid was now under prevented him from continuing to communicate with his superior.

After what felt like an entire hour but had probably only been fifteen minutes, Sid came to a sturdy-looking metal door crossed with numerous chains and a seal mimicking the appearance of Death's mask hundreds of years ago. Following Death's instructions, Sid place the key—an odd, bone-like affair—in the nose hole of the mask, ignoring the way the black eye holes appeared to be glaring at him. With a resounding click, the key turned, and the locks fell away from the door with a surprising lack of noise.

Even so, Sid didn't miss their clear weight and the power that hummed around them.

Then the doors swung open, and Sid stepped into the black room beyond and held his torch high. Immediately, more torches sprung to life around him, triggered by power long thought dormant. Adjusting to the sudden light, Sid put his torch in a convenient empty bracket and slowly approached the center of the room, taking into account the sheer number of sealing tags dangling from the walls, the ceiling, and the pillars that radiated out from the center of the room.

The pressure of the power in the room was enough to create a physical sensation in Sid's chest. The zombie ignored it in favor of continuing to walk forward, trusting Death's word that the man sealed somewhere in the room was an ally and not an enemy.

Sid almost wished he had his partner, Mira Nygus, with him, but dismissed the thought. Death had told Sid to keep the matter secret, even from his own partner.

That only amplified the gravity of the situation.

Sid finally stopped, his eyes landing on what was clearly the sealing container for whatever Death had sent him to retrieve. It was large, taller than Sid by almost half again the man's height, and about as wide as Sid was tall. The box—oddly reminiscent of a coffin—was facing Sid, and appeared to be made of some kind of wood. Incredibly, the wood appeared to be in pristine condition despite its obvious age.

Death's orders repeated in Sid's mind and the teacher began walking forward once more, ignoring the way the sealing tags shifted ominously in an unfelt breeze the closer he got to the coffin. The pressure increased as well, and Sid promptly realized that it was coming from the coffin itself.

_Even while sealed_, the man noted, _this . . . thing still produces an incredible presence._

Sid reached into his pocket and pulled out a far smaller key than the first one he had used. It was simple, made of brass, and looked like any ordinary house key. Sid supposed that it was Death's odd sense of humor at play, though, as always, he couldn't be sure.

Steeling himself for whatever was to come, Sid inserted the key into the barely visible lock on the coffin and took a few hurried but measured steps back, his eyes quickly scanning the room for any threats or possible cover he could have missed in his initial walk in.

He found none and returned his gaze to the coffin as the pressure in the air skyrocketed.

Had Sid not been a three-star meister, he figured he probably would have been driven to his knees or even knocked unconscious from the power been released as the coffin's door swung open and smoke poured out. Despite his best efforts, however, he still staggered a step and found support against a nearby pillar.

The smoke gradually began to disperse and Sid got a good look at the being that had emerged from the coffin.

It appeared humanoid, only getting more so as Sid's vision cleared from whatever distortion the power had enacted upon it. The being—a man, probably in his early twenties or even late teens—was fairly tall, possibly even taller than Sid, and possessed fair skin latticed with scars. He appeared muscular, and Sid noted the ease with which the man moved. The stealth operative immediately came to the conclusion that the man had training of his own and it had likely been far more extensive than Sid's had been.

The man wore surprisingly normal clothing given how long he had been imprisoned. Sid had been expecting something different than a black jacket, white shirt with a number fifteen emblazoned on the front in stylized black print, and black pants. Sid did note the fingerless gloves the man also wore, as well as the tattoos that were just barely visible on the backs of his hands.

The man suddenly turned and slammed the coffin door shut before kicking the entire thing across the room. The box sailed through the air with incredible speed before crashing into the far wall and splintering into numerous splinters and pieces.

"Damn cramped spaces," he muttered, returning to a more casual pose. "I never wanted to spend that much time with my Zanpakutō, thanks."

"Y-y-your hair," Sid stammered, caught off-guard by the man's surprisingly _human_ appearance. "It's orange!"

The man turned and regarded Sid with icy brown eyes that seemed to examine every inch of Sid—even his soul—in an instant. Around him, the very atmosphere appeared to distort, but as Sid watched the strange phenomenon appeared to disappear alongside the odd pressure in the room. The tension the silence had created broke abruptly as the stranger disengaged eye contact and took in the room around him.

"And your skin is blue," he said calmly, stretching. "What's your point? And, more importantly, _why did you come here?"_

The last few words were said with deadly intent and the odd pressure that Sid had sensed upon entering the room increased nearly tenfold, making the zombie feel as though there was a blade pressed to his neck. Getting hold of himself and remembering Death's instructions, Sid reached into his flak jacket pocket and pulled out a letter that Death had given him, written and sealed with the Grim Reaper's own hand.

In an instant, the feeling vanished entirely, leaving Sid gasping for air. The man grabbed the paper out of Sid's hand and then stepped back with deceptive grace that did nothing to disguise the lethality he held in every single motion he made.

The man opened the letter and quickly scanned it, not even bothering to watch Sid. His eyes narrowed bit by bit, and when he hit the end of the letter he crumpled it into a ball and began tossing it into the air and catching it while making a thoughtful noise.

"So that's the situation, huh," he muttered to himself. "I did tell him not to unseal me unless my powers were needed . . . I suppose that hollows count." The man's eyes flashed as he caught the paper ball and crushed it between his fingers. "They're bastards to deal with, all right."

The man pocketed the ruined letter in his black jacket and then shoved his hands into the pockets of his equally black pants that did little to cover his combat boots.

Sid felt a grudging respect for those boots. They looked like quality craftsmanship.

"So, " the man said, giving Sid another one of his emotionless yet still appraising looks, "you're my tour guide, then. Nice to meet you; I'm Ichigo."

Sid waited for the last name, but it never came. Deciding that it would be best not to comment, Sid replied in kind. "The name's Sidney Barett. Call me Sid."

Ichigo nodded. "All right, Sid." He then glanced around. "I don't suppose Death mentioned anything about a sword to you, did he?"

Sid blinked. "As a matter of fact, he handed me a rather odd weapon wrapped in bandages before I left. I didn't ask what it was—I was never too curious, that's the kind of man I was—but it seems as though it would probably be a sword."

When Sid finished his sentence, he realized Ichigo was already gone.

He hadn't even seen the orange-haired man move.

* * *

><p><em>AN The chapters will be short and sweet, and the updates sporadic at best. If you find this idea interesting, awesome. If not, there is no need for you to bother reading the next chapter, whenever it comes out._

_Until we meet again,_

_-RoR_

**_Please review._**


	2. Chapter 2

_Whenever I write Sid, I can't help thinking about the song "What a Shame" by Shinedown._

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Ichigo stared at the figure standing before him, his expression barely changing. To those that had realized his tendency to avoid showing too much emotion, however, it was clear that Ichigo was past the point of confused.

"Hold on," he said, glancing at Sid and then back at the black-clad figure. "_You're_ Death? The hell happened while I was sealed? Also, what's with the construction outside? It looks ridiculous, not to mention all the weird skull symbols in this city."

"There is a reason it's called Death City," Sid said. Ichigo gave him a one-eyed glare.

"No, _really_? I never would've guessed." Sarcasm practically dripped from every word Ichigo spoke, but the unchanging visage of Death's mask made it difficult for both Sid and Ichigo to tell if the Shinigami was actually reacting to the sarcasm or not.

An awkward silence descended on the trio, though Sid appeared to be the only one of the group that was bothered by it.

Death suddenly clapped his oversized hands together, prompting a raised eyebrow at the sight. The orange-haired man apparently decided not to comment, however, and allowed Death to continue speaking in peace.

"Now, Ichigo, it's been a while."

"Only a few hundred years, apparently," Ichigo replied dryly. "I wasn't expecting to be sealed for quite that long. Oh, and one other thing."

Death cocked his head, indicating that he wanted Ichigo to continue.

"I can't sense the Kishin anymore," Ichigo said. "I could feel his madness surging everywhere a while ago - it was really messing with Zangetsu - but it suddenly stopped. What happened?"

The Shinigami exchanged a look with Sid before the zombie stepped forward and filled Ichigo in on the events of the past few months. Ichigo's expression never changed, and when Sid finished his tale, Ichigo sighed and shook his head.

"That Maka girl sounds pretty impressive. Fighting madness isn't an easy task."

Sid noted that it sounded as though Ichigo was speaking from experience, but he didn't comment. After a second, Ichigo turned back to Death.

"And you changed your look because why, again?"

"I didn't want to scare the children who wanted to attend my school."

"The meisters and weapons and whatever?"

"Yes."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "That sounds boring. So they're the ones dealing with all the—what're they called again?"

"Evil humans," Sid supplied. "Their souls have become nothing more than Kishin Eggs, but they can only become a Kishin if they consume more human souls.'

"Real creative name," Ichigo muttered under his breath. "Okay. So they need to eat a human soul in order for them to become evil?"

"Yes."

"And Death keeps a list of the evil ones?"

"Yes."

Ichigo let out a breath. "Why did you bring me out, then? Your meisters sound strong enough to deal with hollows."

"You are the only person I know of that knows anything at all about hollows," Death said, tilting his head to one side. "It only makes sense that I would unseal you and have you assist the rest of the students at the Academy."

Ichigo's coughing fit went ignored by the other Shinigami in the room. The orange-haired man pulled himself together quickly, however.

"What? Are you suggesting that I actually _teach_ here? Are you insane?"

"Of course not!" Death said. "You shall simply patrol the Academy and Death City; if a situation comes up that concerns hollows, I shall have you handle it immediately! In the meantime, I want you to talk to one of the professors who teaches the students in the EAT class."

Ichigo didn't even blink at the odd acronym. "What's the professor's name?"

"Stein. Franken Stein."

Ichigo let out a deep sigh. "Right. How will I recognize him?"

Death and Sid exchanged a look. "Oh, it won't be hard," the zombie said. He then handed Ichigo a sheet of paper. "Here are directions to your apartment, as well as Dr. Stein's. I'll contact you if anything happens."

"Right," Ichigo muttered, taking the paper and putting it in his pocket. "Well, I'll be going, then."

"Oh, Ichigo?"

"What is it, Death?"

"Do try to keep your soul restrained. There are some very sensitive students at the DWMA, and I would hate for them to be crushed."

"You got it," Ichigo called back, his tone impossible to interpret.

* * *

><p>"You have got to be kidding me," Ichigo said, glancing at his directions one last time before he looked at the house in front of him—if it could be called a house. It was unlike anything Ichigo had ever seen before (not including the DWMA, of course; that building was on its own level of weird). "There's no way this is the Tsugihagi Research Laboratory."<p>

Unfortunately, the directions pointed directly where Ichigo had ended up. The substitute Shinigami sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers before taking a deep breath and dropping his hands to his sides.

No matter how bad it got, Ichigo resolved, he could always fight his way out. He had Zangetsu, after all. Unconsciously, Ichigo reached up and touched the blade sheathed at his back in a black sheath. His fingers brushed against the white bandages that covered up Zangetsu's hilt even while the blade was sealed and a flood of reassurance brushed against him from his Zanpakutō spirits. Even Hollow Zangetsu seemed to be in a good mood, though Ichigo supposed that was because they were no longer under the stifling effects of a seal.

"Let's get this over with," Ichigo said to the open air, walking through the open gate that rested in the patchwork wall. It surrounded the odd laboratory—which was also apparently a house and a hospital—and Ichigo wondered who had put the building together. Or, judging from the appearance of the walls, stitched the building together.

Ichigo was a few steps away from the front door when it was pulled open from the inside. The substitute Shinigami silently moved to the side as a girl with green eyes and pigtails blew past him, one hand rubbing the stitched wound on her arm.

"Thank you again, Dr. Stein!" The girl called back into the darkness beyond the door. Ichigo barely heard the reply.

"Not a problem, Maka. Remind your father the next time you see him that we have an appointment."

The girl—Maka—made a face at the mention of her father but agreed nonetheless before walking away. When she passed Ichigo, time seemed to slow, and her breath hitched as, just for a second, an overwhelming pressure completely dominated her limited soul sensing capabilities.

Then it was gone, and Maka returned to consciousness—because somehow she had completely lost touch with reality for a moment—to find herself in the man's arms. She didn't even give that much attention to his hair; after Black Star's wild color and even wilder attitude, orange seemed relatively tame.

"Th—thanks," Maka stammered, allowing herself to be put back on her feet.

"Not a problem," Ichigo replied neutrally before walking into the building and closing the door behind him.

Maka blinked, wondering why she hadn't heard Ichigo move, before she dismissed the thoughts from her mind and went back to mentally groaning about her father and the dinner she was going to have to have with him later that night.

Stupid Soul and his bets over stupid basketball.

* * *

><p>Ichigo's steps sounded much harsher when caged in by the gray walls of the laboratory. The patchwork walls and white arrows on the floor did little to help the place's general creepy aura, and Ichigo was irritated to find that <em>something<em> was interfering with his senses. It made it nearly impossible to sense anything in the building, much less another person who could've been anywhere.

The sound of something rolling caused Ichigo to pause and then stop entirely. The substitute Shinigami kept his visage blank as a door on his right swung open with a slow, menacing creak that did little to hide the noise coming from within the room beyond.

With a sudden crash, a man in a stitched-up rolling chair fell over the threshold of the door, sprawling across the ground for a moment before he righted his chair and sat backwards in it, facing Ichigo as though nothing had happened.

"And who might you be?" The man asked, calmly reaching up and twisting the rather large screw stuck through his head. His glasses reflected the harsh fluorescent light cast from above, making it impossible for Ichigo to see the man's eyes.

"Ichigo."

"No last name? Interesting."

The man abruptly turned and rolled back into the room he had come from, sprawling over the entrance once again and getting up as though it was completely normal.

Ichigo followed, the man's desire for him to do so obvious. He was well aware of the slight bump in the doorway, which was probably what had caused the man to fall. Either that, or the giant screw in his head that the man's gray hair did nothing to hide.

The lighting was far dimmer in the new room, but it didn't make it any more difficult for Ichigo to see that the patchwork decoration - if it was decoration at all - carried over onto the man's actual skin. The orange-haired man came to the conclusion that it was best not to ask how the scars had come into existence.

The man himself was now seated on the opposite side of the room, regarding Ichigo with cold intelligence. Ichigo could now see his eyes and noted that they hid an intelligence that the man's appearance at first seemed to obscure.

"You're Professor Stein?" Ichigo asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket and keeping his posture relaxed. Now that he was close, the substitute Shinigami could sense the man's soul, and there was something within it that Ichigo had sensed before. It was faint, suppressed, but it was there.

"That would be my name," the man now identified as Stein replied. He tilted his head to one side. "You must be that assistant Lord Death told me about. He said you knew something about a new monster that's been appearing in other countries." The man paused, seemingly zoning out for a moment before he refocused. "They were called hollows, I believe."

Ichigo's expression didn't change at the mention of his hated enemy, but Stein appeared to have caught on to his anger nonetheless.

"I do," he replied equivocally. "Apparently, I'm supposed to share what I know with you."

"Then by all means, sit down." The invitation didn't sound extraordinarily appealing, and Ichigo preferred to stay standing whenever possible anyway. It made it easier to react to sudden danger.

"I'll stay standing, thanks."

Ichigo knew that Stein was analyzing every move he made, every word he spoke, but there was nothing he could do to stop the man from doing so.

"So, Ichigo, what exactly is a hollow?" Stein leaned forward in his chair, dangerously close to tipping over. "I have to say that I've never met one in person before."

"Hollows are monsters, similar to evil humans that have consumed human souls. However, they are very rarely humanoid - the more human they look, the more powerful they are. Normal hollows have varying degrees of intelligence and power, but tend to be weak. Meisters can handle them easily as long as they don't get caught in a swarm."

"I see." Stein spun his chair, typed on the faintly glowing computer for a few seconds, and then spun back to face Ichigo. "Are there any distinguishing features of a hollow?"

"A white mask and a hole through their bodies," Ichigo replied. "They'll always have a mask, though some powerful variants may have a broken mask."

Stein made a thoughtful noise as he typed, but when he faced Ichigo again his expression was unreadable. Ichigo had already taken notice that Stein had an incredibly relaxed posture and the build of a powerful fighter, not to mention a crazy enough appearance to warrant a confidence that many people had.

"Anything else? A live specimen, perhaps?"

When he spoke the words, the odd feeling that Ichigo got from the man's soul increased. In that instant, Ichigo realized what the feeling was: it was one he had felt my times from Hollow Zangetsu.

Madness.

Ichigo didn't give any reaction to what he had just observed and instead replied in a calm voice. "I'll do what I can. But you should also know that hollows do not contain 'complete' souls; that is the reason they hunt humans and their souls - so that they can fill the void within themselves. Once you kill them, their souls become unstable and essentially self-destruct."

"You won't have to worry about that," Stein said, his lips twisting in a parody of a smile.

"I'll be back when I find one," Ichigo said. "Hopefully, it takes me a while."

Stein's eyes narrowed at that statement, the brief flares of madness in his soul fading as his more analytical side took over. Ichigo, however, was already walking out. Stein watched him go, paying special attention to the sword on Ichigo's back.

"So he's a meister," Stein muttered. "And a powerful one, if he can hide his soul from me. But why is he walking around with his partner in weapon form? Weapons typically don't stay in weapon form for longer than necessary."

Stein turned back to his computer and finished the notes he had taken while Ichigo had been speaking, and then he opened another document and quickly compiled the notes he had been taking mentally on Ichigo. He regarded them for a few moments before closing the document and focusing on how he would incorporate hollows into his lessons.

He doubted that Lord Death would allow him to perform a live dissection of a dangerous new opponent like a hollow in class. Or an enigma of an orange-haired man, for that matter.

Shame.

The sound of the front door opening caught Stein's attention. He immediately recognized who it was - Marie. She must have returned from getting groceries.

Strange. He hadn't heard Ichigo leave.

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><p><em>AN Next chapter won't be coming for a while. I just figured that, since you guys seem to like this story, you deserved more than one measly introduction chapter._

_I'll see what I can do about writing more for this story, though this and _Skipping Stones_ are probably going to be the only stories I update during my hiatus._

**_Reviews:_**

_**KuraiKodokuna**: I hope you find this as thrilling as you hope it will be, though any action won't be coming for a while._

_**ultima-owner:** Thank you._

_**ShiroHollow96**: Thank you, and I already answered your questions via PM._

_**Guest**: You've got good timing on your review, then._

_I wasn't expecting to get this many reviews on the first chapter, much less as many follows and favorites as I did. Either I'm more popular than I thought (yeah, right), or you people like Soul Eater/Bleach crossovers._

_Until we meet again,_

_-RoR_


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm tired, irritated, and stressed out from the fact that I have to give an English speech tomorrow that I began practicing less than two hours ago, and it's already past one in the morning. Therefore, procrastination, and here we are._

_I can tell you, with certainty, that the next chapter won't be coming out for more than two weeks._

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

"Get a live sample?" Ichigo growled from the confines of the apartment he had been given, courtesy of Death and the DWMA. The substitute Shinigami paced through the three rooms he had in his living quarters - a living room merged with a kitchen, his bedroom, and a study – his steps agitated and filled with frustration. There was a bathroom attached to his bedroom, and Ichigo had already swept the entire place for bugs or other such traps. It was a habit he couldn't bring himself to break, one that Kisuke and Aizen had forced him to form in the first place with their constant spying and suspicious to outright dangerous behavior.

Ichigo paced through the living room once again, fairly sure that he was going to wear a hole in the soft carpet at this rate. At least there was a clear-cut path for his pacing, since there were only two chairs, a couch, and a table in the living room and the short hallway from the kitchen to the study and bedroom was completely clear.

"How the hell - no, _why _the hell did I agree to do that? I'm going to kill a hollow on sight – how could I possibly bring one back for some scientist to _study_ without having that scientist die because he couldn't contain the hollow?"

**"Beats me," **Hollow Zangetsu offered from his position on the couch. His appearance - a whitewashed version of Ichigo wearing opposite colored clothing with a blue tongue and yellow and black eyes - clashed heavily with the warm red cushions he was lying on, but the sword spirit didn't seem to care. **"You should have thought about that more before you spoke, King."**

"Shut up. You're not helping."

**"Neither is your pacing."**

"I'm not pacing."

Hollow Zangetsu merely snorted before closing his eyes and appearing to drift off to sleep. Ichigo wasn't fooled - his partner was resting, but he would be awake and able to fight in an instant.

Old Man Zangetsu calmed Ichigo down from within the orange-haired man's inner world. The Quincy half of Ichigo's powers was still in recovery from being sealed; he was a smaller portion of Ichigo's power, and therefore took longer to get back to full strength since he did not have as much strength in reserve to rely upon.

**"You do know a few long-term Bakudō."**

"I don't want Stein analyzing my powers. It could end with some bad questions."

**"Tie up the hollow."**

"It'll have to be extremely weak if it's going to get tied up easily."

**"Figure something out, then! I'm done helping you!"**

"You weren't even helping me in the first place!" Ichigo snapped, crossing his arms.

He and Hollow Zangetsu took a few minutes to calm down, during which Ichigo grabbed a water bottle and drank the entire thing in a few gulps. Once he finished and threw the bottle into the recycling, he turned to face Hollow Zangetsu, who hadn't changed position at all.

"Zangetsu, you sure you're up to this?"

The hollow, instinctively knowing that Ichigo was addressing him and not the other Zangetsu, opened his eyes slightly.

**"What? Playing the part of your weapon isn't going to be all that challenging. I'm not weak and we both know I'm better at acting than you are."**

"Then you need to practice your transformation if you're going to be thought of as a somewhat normal weapon if we ever get stuck in combat."

**"Che. Fine."**

Hollow Zangetsu swung his legs over the edge of the couch and got to his feet, every motion brimming with barely contained power. He moved to stand before Ichigo, the similarity between their appearances only becoming more and more obvious with every step he took.

**"Let's get this over with."**

"I couldn't agree more. You know what you're doing, right?"

**"'Course. I'm casting an illusionary Kidō and then transforming into a sword. The Kidō should make it seem like a weapon's transformation."**

"Good thing Sid let us watch some students practicing before I went to Stein's," Ichigo muttered, glancing out the window to where the DWMA was visible in the distance.

**"Yeah, yeah. Get ready."**

Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu braced themselves before Ichigo held out a hand. Wordlessly, Hollow Zangetsu cast the Kidō he had ready. Before Ichigo's eyes, Hollow Zangetsu seemed to glow with red light and shoot up into the air before reforming in Ichigo's hand as a sealed blade. Ichigo, being well trained at seeing through illusions, had seen the actual event - Hollow Zangetsu disappearing and reappearing as the sword. No one else, however, would be able to see through it.

Hopefully.

But it was the best Ichigo could do, so he grunted and let Hollow Zangetsu rematerialize.

"While you work out any problems with that Kidō spell, I'll think of ways we can disguise our other abilities."

Hollow Zangetsu rolled his eyes at the idea of not being able to rest any longer. **"You know, there is that Soul Resonance thing we talked about with Sid. That could be your Getsuga Tenshō."**

"That doesn't help with bankai or Shunpo."

**"Then maybe here you're just special."**

"You're not helping."

**"I'm not trying to."**

Ichigo scowled slightly but let the matter go as Hollow Zangetsu went into the study to practice, since that room was the most shielded from the outside world thanks to its one window and heavy curtains.

The substitute Shinigami, however, pulled notes out of the pockets of his jacket and spread them on the low wooden table in front of the couch that Hollow Zangetsu had been lying on. He also reached to his left and grabbed a heavy book from the top of precarious stack that teetered next to the couch. He dropped the book on the table and opened it, flipping through numerous pages before stopping and turning over a few more. Ichigo finally stopped on a map of Death City.

Ichigo began to mark the map in pen, highlighting defensive positions, points of interest, and any such location that warranted any extra notice. It took him very little time to mark the map - he had practice with scouting out maps, after all - and he flipped a few more pages when he finished, settling on a map of the area around Death City. The substitute Shinigami's eyes narrowed as he began marking that as well, making significantly fewer marks on the page.

After several hours of working, Ichigo finally sat back and dropped his pen, blinking several times to clear his vision. In front of him, half the books that had been in the stack lay opened on the table, some of them filled with pen marks, some of them blank, some of them stuck in-between.

**"You finally done?"**

"Yeah," Ichigo said, standing with a slight groan and glancing at Hollow Zangetsu, who was currently digging through the kitchen in search of food. "You know that you're going to have to be materialized most of the time, right?"

Hollow Zangetsu paused in his search, shrugged, and continued without giving a verbal reply. Ichigo sighed and stretched, glad that his muscles were accustomed to long periods of no movement. Soreness was usually a thing of the past, unless Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu decided to spar. They had done that numerous times in Ichigo's inner world while Ichigo was sealed so that Ichigo's abilities would not deteriorate. As a matter of fact, Ichigo suspected that he had actually grown stronger.

**"So, what now?" **Hollow Zangetsu asked, grabbing an apple and taking a bite. Ichigo didn't reply until his partner had tossed him an apple as well.

"It's pretty late. Tomorrow, we start patrols and hopefully catch any hollows that get too close before they can do any damage."

Hollow Zangetsu made a noise of understanding as he took a few more bites of his apple. Swallowing, the Zanpakutō spirit spoke once more.

**"I've been trying to figure this out, King. Are we in Shinigami form or not?"**

Ichigo paused in his snacking, gaining a thoughtful look for a few moments before he answered. "I don't think so. It's almost as though the properties of my real body and soul form are mixed; I feel like I'm in my Shinigami form but at the same time I'm getting hungry and thirsty and tired from lack of sleep at the same rate I would when I was in my body."

Hollow Zangetsu nodded. **"So we're basically in your real body."**

"Pretty much. I guess this place doesn't really like my soul form."

**"Or mine," **Zangetsu added, finishing his apple and tossing the core in the trash.

Ichigo took a few more seconds to finish his own apple before lining up his shot and throwing the remains in the trash. Hollow Zangetsu raised an eyebrow in appreciation of the shot before glancing outside.

**"Who's taking first watch?"**

Ichigo glanced outside where a literally smiling half moon stared down at the Earth.

"I will. You rest."

**"Then later, King." **Hollow Zangetsu said before he turned and walked away, heading towards the bedroom. Ichigo watched him leave for a moment before he put a reassuring hand on the blade that was sheathed on his back - Ichigo was confident that no one would realize that Hollow Zangetsu had gone to sleep and the blade was _still_ on Ichigo's back - and walked over to the window. He opened it with ease and jumped into the night, using his abilities to stay in the air and climb to the top of the apartment building. He kept his sword sheathed, not wanting the moonlight to reflect on the metal and give him away.

Ichigo was a few minutes away from switching watches with Hollow Zangetsu when he sensed someone approaching his position on the roof of a building near the apartment building. A second later Ichigo had identified the person and relaxed, allowing himself to be approached by Sid.

"What's a zombie like you doing out here so late?" Ichigo asked, making sure to keep his tone and posture relaxed. Sid stopped a few meters away, his posture rigid. Ichigo supposed that was probably because he was a zombie, and zombies didn't seem to match with the idea of being relaxed.

"Lord Death has a message," Sid replied. "He wants to talk to you tomorrow."

"Why?"

Ichigo already knew the answer - he and Death had a lot to catch up on, after all - but the substitute Shinigami had time to kill, and he could keep watch while talking to Sid, so he could afford to drag out the conversation for a little longer.

"He didn't say."

"You're kidding."

"I never lied - that's the kind of man I was."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched upon hearing Sid say that phrase. The zombie had said it countless times during their interactions, and Ichigo had no doubt that Sid said it at other times as well. It seemed to be wired into his undead brain.

"Fine, whatever," Ichigo muttered. "What time should I be there?"

"Eight a.m. sharp," Sid replied.

"I'll keep that in mind. See you tomorrow, Sid."

"One more thing."

Ichigo froze, less than a second away from Flash-Stepping back to his apartment. "Just say it, Sid."

"There have been reports of strange creatures in a town not too far from here. You may have to go investigate it if they are verified by a scouting party."

Ichigo mentally filed the information away and then suppressed a sigh. "Got it. I'm leaving now."

He was gone in an instant, no sign of his ever being in that location remaining. Sid glanced around, but saw nothing. With a shrug, the black ops zombie turned and began making his way back to the DWMA to do some more work before he went home for some time to rest.

He hadn't had that in a few days; Lord Death had granted him a morning off, so Sid was planning on taking that time to sleep and get his body back in its normal cycles of sleep. As normal as his cycles of sleep could be as a zombie, anyway.

* * *

><p><em>AN I hope I didn't miss any obvious mistakes. Meh, whatever._

_I'm pretty sure I answered all of the questions in the reviews, and if I didn't, feel free to PM me and let me know. There should be action coming up in about two chapters (like four-five weeks, probably), so you guys can look forward to that, I guess._

_Until we meet again,_

_-RoR_


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, so I have exams next week and I won't be doing any more typing. Therefore, no more updates for a while. I said that last time, but this time I mean it. I think. Honestly, I'm writing a lot more for this story than I ever expected to._

_And if anyone even thinks about asking about pairings, please bang your head into the nearest wall and rethink that plan of action._

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

Ichigo walked out of his talk with Death, thinking about the things he had just learned.

The relationship of a meister and weapon, for one, seemed to be both complex and simple at the same time. It reminded Ichigo of the relationship between a Zanpakutō and its wielder, but far more difficult to maintain, since the meister and weapon were two different people and not part of the same soul. As something that Ichigo would have to replicate to blend in, it warranted the most of Ichigo's attention.

But that brought up Soul Resonance, another thing that Ichigo would be replicating. It was an interesting ability, one that Ichigo saw much potential in. The ability to actually synchronize souls was a fascinating concept; one that Ichigo had not known was possible. It was almost like shikai or even bankai, when the Zanpakutō and wielder were working together and in total unity to achieve a power far greater than that which the two could achieve separately.

On top of that, Soul Resonance also differed with each pair of meister and weapon that used it. One meister and weapon could even have several types of similar Soul Resonances, though the more powerful ones took far more energy to use, which didn't surprise Ichigo at all. It would at least give him an excuse for using shikai and bankai – hopefully, it never came to bankai, but Ichigo could never be too careful. He had learned from experience that contingency plan's were a desperate man's best friend. Even though he was no longer desperate, he could become so again at any time.

So he planned out contingencies, processed ways he could use and fake Soul Resonance, and how to avoid detection from the "sensitive" types that Death had described.

Apparently, there were three that Ichigo really needed to be wary of and that he would be likely to cross paths with in combat: Maka Albarn, Stein, some student named Ox, and Death the Kid.

Honestly. Death had a kid and named him "Death the Kid". Ichigo, for some reason, wasn't surprised about that, though it meant that Death the Kid had to be a powerful opponent and a skilled user of soul perception.

At least suppressing his Reiatsu seemed to be the same as suppressing his soul. In a fight, it would appear as though Ichigo was a normal meister, at least in soul.

A lot had happened during the time that Ichigo had been sealed, and Ichigo knew that it would take a while for him to sort through everything that Death had told him. At the moment, however, he knew the most important parts—and, the most of important of those: meisters and weapons. Anything else that Ichigo stumbled across would be trouble, but Ichigo was confident that he would find some way of adapting to whatever situations he found himself in.

"Hey, are you new here?"

Ichigo glanced to his side to see a shorter girl with pigtails, green eyes, and a curious expression staring up at him. The substitute Shinigami took a moment to be grateful that he had the foresight to have Hollow Zangetsu materialized and walking next to him. The hollow's appearance was a bit unorthodox, but Ichigo didn't doubt that there were stranger weapons out there.

"In a way," Ichigo replied, remembering how he had run into Maka the previous day outside of Stein's house. "Aren't you that girl I saw at Professor Stein's place?"

Maka seemed to think that Ichigo was younger than Ichigo actually was. Ichigo saw no reason to stop her from thinking that, so he made his posture slightly more relaxed and his speech more casual. Hollow Zangetsu noticed this and copied Ichigo easily.

"Yup. He was stitching up a cut I got."

Ichigo wasn't surprised, though he found the idea of Stein working with live patients . . . disconcerting. He wasn't entirely sure why, but the feeling nagged at him nonetheless. It almost reminded Ichigo of the feeling he got when he was around Mayuri or Kisuke.

"So, are you a meister?" Maka asked, her eyes going to the white figure standing by Ichigo.

"Yeah," Ichigo replied. He inclined his head towards Zangetsu. "This is Zangetsu. He's my twin brother, but somehow he's the one that got the weapon gene."

Hollow Zangetsu smirked but didn't say anything.

"You didn't?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that guy over there is my partner, Soul." Maka jerked a thumb behind her to where a boy with crimson eyes and a bored expression leaned against the wall. "He's a scythe," she finished.

"Zangetsu's a sword," Ichigo said, sensing that Maka expected him to reply in kind. Maka's eyes sparked with interest.

"Really? I know another sword meister - though I think it's a ninja sword. His name's Black Star."

"He sounds interesting," Ichigo said neutrally. He glanced past Maka, where Death City lay. Ichigo needed to scout the city and get experience navigating it, since he couldn't stare at maps in the middle of a chase or fight. "Sorry, but I have to go. See you around?" Ichigo forced himself to smile slightly, demonstrating emotion he really didn't feel.

Maka grinned. "Sure." Suddenly, she seemed to remember something. "Oh! I never introduced myself." Maka stuck out a hand. "I'm Maka Albarn, two-star meister. Nice to meet you."

Ichigo took the offered hand and shook it once. "Ichigo, and that's Zangetsu. Likewise."

Ichigo and Maka remained standing for a few seconds more before Ichigo turned and walked away, waving over his shoulder.

Maka stared after Ichigo, a confused expression on her face. Soul walked up to her.

"Who was that?" He asked, seeing the Maka's expression. Maka scrunched up her face in concentration for a moment before she sighed.

"He said his name is Ichigo. I think I mentioned him yesterday."

"Oh, yeah. The guy that caught you because you tripped."

"I didn't trip!" Maka protested. "I saw something - his soul, I think. There was something wrong with it."

"Were you looking at it again?"

"Mhm." Maka frowned. "Now it's completely normal. Same with his weapon's soul - what was his name? Oh, right. Zangetsu."

"Maybe you just messed up last night," Soul offered, stretching and putting his hands on the top of his head. "Too distracted by his looks or something."

A second later found Soul crouched on the ground, clutching his hands from where they had taken the blow meant for his head.

"Ow! Maka, that was totally uncool!"

Maka returned the book she held to a conveniently large pocket on the inside of her coat before replying. "You deserved it. I don't pay attention to things like that."

"Yeah," Soul said, standing back up and smirking, "because no guy would ever pay attention to you. Not with that flat chest of yours."

For the second time in so many minutes, Soul was acquainted with Maka's book, though this time his head had no protection.

"Fine," Soul groaned, clutching his head. "I'm sorry."

Maka nodded once, as though acknowledging Soul's defeat, before she began walking away, pushing Ichigo's odd soul, lack of a last name and lack of a meister rank to the back of her mind. "C'mon, Soul! Lord Death said that he had a mission for us!"

"I'm coming, geez."

* * *

><p>Ichigo paused in his patrol of the town. He was currently standing atop some kind of hotel - apparently there were many in Death City due to the number of tourists every year - and something had brushed against the edges of his senses. It wasn't a hollow, nor did it feel like a meister or weapon.<p>

Scowling, Ichigo unsheathed Zangetsu and allowed Hollow Zangetsu to materialize while Ichigo returned the actual blade to storage in his inner world, a trick he had learned after much trial and error. It was extraordinarily handy for when Hollow Zangetsu materialized, since it would be difficult to explain how Ichigo had a blade and a materialized weapon at the same time.

"What is that?" Hollow Zangetsu growled, looking in the direction the feeling was coming from. "It kinda feels like Yoruichi, but not."

Ichigo nodded in wordless agreement and, wordlessly, the pair darted across the rooftop and jumped onto the next one over, hopefully catching their stalker off-guard. Ichigo had no doubt that he would be able to overpower whoever it was that had dared to try and follow him.

What the substitute Shinigami had not been expecting, however, was to come face-to-face with a cat wearing an odd hat reminiscent of a witch. It had golden eyes glittering with strange intelligence, prompting Ichigo to think that _maybe this cat is similar to Yoruichi_, only for his thoughts to be interrupted when the cat leaped back in comical surprise.

"Hey!" It said, appearing to do so out of sheer reflex. Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu froze, their suspicions confirmed.

"Who are you?" Ichigo demanded, holding out his hand. Hollow Zangetsu transformed in an instant, the reality of the change hidden by a carefully crafted spell. "And why are you following me?" Ichigo continued, pointing Zangetsu's tip directly at the strange cat's nose.

The cat's eyes crossed to look at the blade but it seemed relatively unconcerned with its situation. It looked significantly more concerned, however, when Ichigo let some of his killing intent bleed into the air.

Deciding that it would be best to humor the stranger, the cat spoke. "My name's Blair."

"You're a female?"

"Duh! Can't you tell from my cute hat?"

"No."

Blair pouted for a moment, thinking that she didn't really like this new man that had such a strange smell it warranted investigating. He had no fashion sense and no sense of tact.

"And what's your name?" Blair asked, deciding that she should at least get that much information.

"Ichigo."

He was far too rude and blunt, Blair thought.

Although he had quite the saving grace: he was far more attractive than Blair had first expected. Up close, his eyes contained far more depth and their brown color was almost warm (though now that he was angry his eyes looked rather cold and Blair really didn't like that; she wanted his eyes to be nice and warm again), and he was extraordinarily handsome, not to mention muscular.

And he had orange hair. Blair liked the color orange - it reminded her of pumpkins.

"You haven't answered why you were following me," Ichigo growled, gradually becoming more and more irritated with the situation. The ridiculousness of pointing his sword at a cat wasn't lost on Ichigo and he was glad that no one else was around to see it. And, for obvious reasons, the cat before him kept reminding Ichigo of Yoruichi, and not just in appearance. There was something flickering in her eyes that made the substitute Shinigami wary.

"I haven't seen you around before," Blair replied honestly. "And you smell interesting."

"Smell interesting?" Hollow Zangetsu repeated, projecting his voice from within weapon form. It had taken him about an hour to figure it out, and it still sounded a bit distorted - more so than Hollow Zangetsu's voice was normally - but it was good enough. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You don't smell like Death City," Blair elaborated, "so you haven't been here for very long." The black cat tilted her head as she regarded Ichigo. "You smell like . . . blood and dust." She wrinkled her nose. "It's a really odd smell. You should find a different one."

"Or maybe you should stop following me so you don't have to smell it," Ichigo said, his voice flat. "Look, I don't want you following me. If you want to talk, just come up to me and say so. You do have a human form, right?"

Blair stiffened in surprise. "What? No, I'm just a talking cat!"

"Don't lie to me."

Blair's tail drooped in defeat. "Okay, fine. The next time I'll visit you in human form." She suddenly perked up. "You'd better be ready!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes as Blair turned and scampered away before glancing at Hollow Zangetsu, who had returned to his human form. "You might as well stay materialized. There's no reason for you to be in 'sword form' unless we're fighting."

Hollow Zangetsu shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

Ichigo finished his rounds of the city with Hollow Zangetsu at his side, committing the layout of the entire place to memory. The patrols he would begin that night would further cement the city in his mind, so when he finished he stopped to have some lunch.

He was in the middle of eating that lunch when a suppressed scream echoed in the air. Ichigo didn't even pause in his eating, choosing to finish his sandwich - a short, fast meal he had grown to appreciate during the very brief breaks he had between meals - before glancing up to see Sid approaching. Ichigo briefly extended his senses to find a person that seemed to be passed out on the street, most likely startled by Sid's appearance.

"What are you, Death's personal messenger?" Ichigo asked, swallowing his last bite.

"Lord Death doesn't trust anyone else to deliver the information," Sid replied.

"And that information would be . . .?"

"A meister and weapon from the DWMA have been sent to the town to scout the reports of creatures, as is usual protocol, but Lord Death wants you to go as well to make sure that nothing goes wrong."

"What if it isn't hollows?"

Ichigo asked the question only for redundancy; he knew that taking an unnecessary risk - such as the possibility of pitting two people against an enemy they didn't even know about - was something that he and the DWMA should avoid whenever possible.

"Then you get a good view of the scenery around here," Sid answered, his tone making it impossible to tell whether he was being patronizing or not.

"When do I leave?"

"As soon as possible."

Ichigo sighed, standing up from the table. He'd already paid for his meal, so he finished the last of his water and set the glass down. "Well then. I'll leave in ten minutes. Where's the town?"

Sid handed Ichigo a map that Ichigo quickly pocketed. The two separated with no parting words as though the exchange had never taken place at all, and Ichigo ran back to his apartment where Hollow Zangetsu was poring over informative books that Death had given Ichigo. The hollow was incredibly intelligent and patient despite his violent and unpredictable nature, and Ichigo figured that having more knowledge of the world around him wouldn't hurt.

It was about time things got interesting. Ichigo hated inactivity and the preparation days; even just two days of doing nothing but learning, the substitute Shinigami was ready to punch something.

Preferably a hollow.

* * *

><p><em>AN Careful what you wish for, Ichigo._

**_Questions:_**

**_Why do souls "self-destruct"? They don't do that in Bleach!_**

_The hollows' souls are incomplete and unstable in comparison to Kishin eggs or regular souls. They're lacking a stabilizing element that they lost when they became a hollow. Therefore, the hollows' souls aren't really "compatible" with the Soul Eater environment without the hollows' bodies shielding them, so they explode. That, and I didn't want to have to write what people would think when they examined a hollow's soul. I'm lazy, people._

**_Ichigo's power level?_**

_Insane._

**_Action?_**

_Coming up._

_There aren't really any reviews that I feel warrant a response, though I do appreciate each and every one of you._

_Until next time,_

_-RoR_


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm done! Hah! Hahahahaha! Screw you, first semester exams! I hate everything you stand for!_

_Apparently, "a while" translates to a week for me. Probably because I can't really stand sitting on several completed chapters for any length of time._

_Anyway, on with the chapter. Side note, this is the longest one yet, and I don't plan on topping it. The chapters for this story aren't meant to be long._

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Ichigo sprinted through the forest, Hollow Zangetsu keeping pace beside him. The substitute Shinigami used Shunpo to further increase his speed; if he kept up the speed he was at, he would be at the distant village in a few minutes.

Sid had told Ichigo that it was Maka and Soul who had gone to scout the village. That was unfortunate, but there was nothing Ichigo could do about it. Hopefully, the two wouldn't suspect that there was anything odd about Ichigo. If they did, Ichigo would have to be far more careful than he already was around them.

The sun laughing in the sky wasn't helping Ichigo's pre-battle nerves at all. While Ichigo wasn't nervous or scared by any stretch of the term, he always felt a bit strange in the minutes before a fight. Once the action actually started, the feeling would go away.

When Ichigo got within visual range of the village, the first thing he noticed was the smoke. The second was the distinct roaring sound of a hollow.

"Dammit," he hissed, upping his speed and getting to the collection of houses and shops in mere moments, just in time to punch a hollow about to attack a woman and her child.

The hollow had no time to react; Ichigo's punch, enhanced with Reiryoku and subsequently Reiatsu, shattered its mask instantaneously. It gave one last dying screech before fading to nothing. A white orb hovered in the air above where the largest portion of hollow had landed, only to burst into nothingness a moment later.

Ichigo frowned before he turned to the woman, noting the terror in her eyes. "Get indoors!" Ichigo ordered. "A basement if you can find one. Go!"

The woman nodded jerkily, grabbed her kid, and ran away. Ichigo ignored the way she stumbled; either the woman made it to safety or she didn't. Ichigo just had to contain the damage of the hollows.

Another roar had Ichigo sprinting away, Hollow Zangetsu hot on his heels. The pair arrived right as a scythe cut through the only hollow in the small town square. The fountain had been reduced to so much rubble and water sprayed into the air, soaking the panting figure standing nearby.

Ichigo instantly recognized her as Maka and ran over, suppressing his Reiatsu even more and double-checking the limiters he had placed on himself after being unsealed.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Maka's breathing eased slightly as she looked up and saw him. "I—Ichigo, right? What are you doing here?"

**"Seeing the sights," **Hollow Zangetsu muttered under his breath, though he was ignored.

"Death sent me. He was afraid that the rumors of the monsters here were more serious than he had originally thought. Can you tell me what happened?"

Maka nodded, standing up straight and taking advantage of the brief lull in the hollow attacks.

"Soul and I were scouting the town, searching for any monsters or evil humans when we were attacked by a creature that I could barely sense at all. It had a white mask and a hole in its body, but when I attacked it, it just regenerated its limbs. I've never seen one before and even though they're not hard to kill there's a lot of them here and I can't be in two places at once—and their souls disappear after a few seconds. I've been doing all I can, but there are still people that are getting hurt."

Right on cue, a pained scream cut through the air. Maka winced and made to move. Ichigo stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You stay here and rest for a minute," Ichigo said. "You've already been here for a few hours; when you're rested, find me and we'll clear the rest of this place and hopefully figure out what these things are."

Ichigo figured that it was best to play dumb. He didn't want Maka's suspicions to go up or for her to ask unnecessary questions.

"Ichigo, one more thing," Maka said, glancing at the scythe she held in one hand. "When I try to sense them, I can't—their souls are weird."

The substitute Shinigami forced confusion onto his features. "That's odd. Thanks for the information. Zangetsu?"

The hollow grunted before transforming into a blade, the Kidō spell working perfectly to imitate the transformation of an actual weapon.

"Maka, when you fight these guys again, I think you should aim for their masks."

"Why?"

**"We hit one's mask when we arrived," **Zangetsu said, his voice emanating from the sword. **"It disappeared pretty quickly after that."**

"Right. I'll keep that in mind. Did you hear that, Soul?"

"Yeah, yeah," Soul said, sounding bored. Ichigo, however, could hear the anxiety buried deep in his voice. "I heard it, Maka."

Maka's eyes went to the sealed blade in Ichigo's hands, taking in every detail. Ichigo gave her an amused look before turning and running off, heading towards where the scream had come from a few moments ago.

Maka took a minute to get her breath back, watching the plumes of smoke that drifted up into the sky. Distant explosions reached her ears and she wondered just what it was that Ichigo was doing. Her wonderings were interrupted, however, as she saw a man stumbling into the square. He was bleeding from a nasty gash going across his chest—it looked like a claw mark.

The young meister was running towards him in an instant, her instincts telling her that one of those monsters was sure to be behind him. She wasn't wrong, and with a leap into the air and a perfectly executed slice the monster was crumbling to the ground, its mask cut clean in half.

Maka landed and rolled to cushion the impact, automatically tucking Soul closer to her body so that his blade wouldn't dig into the ground. The maneuver had taken some practice, but now that she was good at it Maka wondered how she had ever screwed it up.

"Th—thank you," the man gasped, fruitlessly trying to stem the flow of blood from his wound.

"There's a hospital set up a block that way," Maka said, pointing. She had already escorted a larger group there earlier, back when the monsters had first begun their assault.

Maka had apparently arrived during a lull in the monsters' assault of the village and had been boxed in and unable to escape. She'd had just enough time to scan the town for monsters before creatures began pouring out of the woods in incredible numbers. The meister had been forced to fall back to a more defensible position, and she did all she could to give the villagers as much time to prepare as possible.

Unfortunately, it hadn't been enough. Too many people had been stranded in dangerous areas, more than Maka was capable of saving on her own.

She was glad that Ichigo had showed up, but wondered why he was being sent on a mission if she had never seen him around the DWMA before. Was he some kind of transfer student?

"Maka, focus!"

Maka's thoughts broke off at the sound of Soul's voice and instinctively she raised her scythe to block a monster's claw that would've taken her head off. She grunted at the impact, digging her feet into the ground before shifting her weight and throwing the claw off of Soul, causing the monster to lose its balance momentarily.

Maka took advantage of the opening and continued her spinning motion, while also flipping Soul in her hands and cutting the hollow clean in half horizontally. It fell in a spray of blood that was already disintegrating, completely disappearing before it even touched Maka's clothing.

The young meister was panting more out of surprise than strain.

"We need to find Ichigo," Maka said, glancing at Soul. She also noted that the man had stumbled off, drops of blood indicating where he had gone. It appeared to be in the direction of the hospital.

"Yeah. He's probably found the biggest concentration of these guys."

* * *

><p>Maka stopped, her eyes shooting wide open. She was less than a meter away from the edge of the rooftop and her position afforded her a clear view of the street below.<p>

"Maka, what's wrong?" Soul asked, his voice full of concern. He seemed to notice the scene before him and his voice died into a muttered, "oh".

It was a terrible sight to behold. People's bodies lay sprawled on the ground, the blood bright crimson against the cobblestone street. Maka swallowed her nausea and looked closer, realizing that most of the blood was somewhat dried. The slaughter hadn't happened within the past few hours, and now that Maka's thought processes weren't skewed by horror she remembered stumbling across the scene earlier in the day and leaving almost immediately because it was awful to look at.

Except now there were a few more bodies to add to the mess, a fact that only made Maka's stomach turn even more.

Movement drew the young meister's eye and she turned to see an orange-haired man cutting through the nearby monsters like they were paper. The monsters were swarming him, probably trying to overwhelm Ichigo with numbers, but Maka was stunned by the skill Ichigo was displaying.

He moved with lethal grace, every motion begun and executed perfectly with no wasted time or effort. His blade flashed in the sunlight, temporarily blinding Maka, and when she looked again half of the monsters in front of Ichigo were disintegrating into black particles that rapidly disappeared in the afternoon air, leaving souls that quickly imploded and followed suit.

Maka blinked, pulling her eyes away from the display of skill before her in search of anyone that needed help while Ichigo distracted the majority of the monsters. Her eyes landed on a small group of about four people about fifty meters away, backing away from a massive monster that towered over them and that had a height that easily approached the roof of the building that was boxing in the people and trapping them.

"Let's go, Soul!" Maka said, turning and sprinting across the rooftops in the direction of the trapped civilians. Her partner grinned in anticipation of the coming fight before the reflection of his face in the blade of the scythe faded before the glaring sunlight.

When Maka was close enough, she changed the direction of her running and leaped off the building, her movements confident and assured. Soul's blade arced down, catching the monster completely unawares and lopping off its head. Maka continued the motion, digging Soul's blade into the building to slow her descent before flipping and landing on the ground in front of the people, just in time to deflect an attack from another monster that had noticed the group of vulnerable humans.

Maka, realizing that she couldn't move Soul at the risk of being hit, brought her foot up and buried it in what was hopefully the monster's stomach.

Except there was nothing there. Instead of flesh, there was a hole right in the thing's abdomen.

With a surprised noise, Maka lost her balance. The pressure of the monster's arm on Soul further unbalanced Maka and, cursing mentally, she fell, her scythe way out of position to make another block. The monster roared in triumph and prepared to stomp on her. Maka grit her teeth, trying to bring Soul up once more, but she knew she wouldn't make it in time. Nevertheless, she tried, even as the monster's foot bore down on her head.

There was a flash, a rush of wind and power, the sound of metal cutting flesh, and then the monster was gone as though it had never been there.

"You okay?" A calm voice asked.

Maka blinked and realized that Ichigo was standing over her, his hand extended to help her up. She accepted the help and glanced to her left, realizing that the monsters that had plagued Ichigo before were completely gone.

That was odd. There had been a ton of monsters over there moments ago. Now there was nothing but a smoking crater in the ground.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Maka said, returning her gaze to Ichigo. "I just fell."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"There was a hole in its stomach," Maka grumbled. "I didn't notice it."

"Until you put your foot through it," Soul added.

"Shut up, Soul."

"You should be more careful when you fight," Ichigo advised mildly. He paused as another roar split the air, his eyes hardening. "Do you think you can handle yourself?"

"I did it so far," Maka answered, somewhat miffed that Ichigo didn't have more faith in her.

"Except for thirty seconds ago," Ichigo said, his lips turning up at one corner. Maka's hand twitched, as though she was tempted to hit Ichigo with her signature Maka Chop. "Hey, no need to get upset. I'll head over there - " Ichigo pointed to where the roar had just come from, " - and you should scout the town to try and find survivors. Get them to safety; don't abandon any group until they get to that safe location, okay?"

"What safe location?"

"Some of the houses have to have basements. Find one."

Maka swallowed and nodded, steeling herself for the coming fight.

"Good luck," Ichigo finished, turning and sprinting away. Maka watched him for a moment before following his advice and searching for a house with a basement that would suit her needs.

Ichigo ran through the streets, his solely on sensing the hollows nearby.

He had gotten reckless when he saw Maka was in danger of dying by the hands of a hollow; using a Getsuga Tenshō could have been disastrous if there were any witnesses that had any idea what was going on. The situation seemed to have worked itself out, however, because neither Maka nor Soul had commented on the newly-formed crater in the street.

Ichigo supposed that they simply could have not noticed it, but he decided that those thoughts were better left for another time.

After confirming that there was no human nearby that could see him, Ichigo began using Shunpo to arrive where hollows were congregating. Even if there were people inside the buildings the hollows were breaking into, Ichigo did not remain still for long enough to register in the people's vision. Had they been Shinigami, they might have had a chance, but as it was, they didn't.

Hollows disintegrated like shadows before the sun with every swing of Ichigo's blade, and his speed gave the monsters no time to react.

**"They're so weak," **Hollow Zangetsu said as Ichigo caved in what he assumed to be a hollow's chest cavity with one kick. It screeched in pain but that noise was cut off when Ichigo finished the move by slicing its mask.

"Yeah," He agreed. It was odd, though.

_"Do not drop your guard, Ichigo. Any hollows can be dangerous in large enough numbers."_

"I know, Zangetsu," Ichigo said, a small feeling of relief trickling through his mind at the sound of Old Man Zangetsu's voice echoing from his inner world. If the sword spirit was strong enough to speak, that meant that Ichigo's powers were well on their way to being fully recovered.

_It's strange,_ Ichigo continued mentally, _that there are this many weaker hollows in one place without a stronger one to lead them. Are they being controlled? Aizen did that with his armies using illusions, but only in the beginning of the war . . ._

The last of the hollows near Ichigo took a sword to the face and disappeared, its soul following suit seconds later. Ichigo could sense more of the monsters fleeing the town, their survival instincts taking over their desire to consume souls. Stretching his senses out farther, Ichigo got a lock on Maka's position and noted that there were three hollows by her, but a moment later that number dropped to two, then one, then zero.

She was definitely a strong combatant, Ichigo noted.

**"There's nothing more for us to do over here, King. We might as well go help her, since the hollows are sensing that she's weaker than you."**

"Yeah, I'm going."

Ichigo used Shunpo for as long as he dared before he simply sprinted, though his speed was still nothing to overlook. The substitute Shinigami arrived next to Maka right as another hollow flew in from above, scaly wings extending from its back. Ichigo didn't bother to wonder how the hollow was able to support itself in the air before he threw his blade, the motion instinctual.

Hollow Zangetsu transformed in mid air and flipped, smashing the heels of his feet into the hollow's mask, shattering it. As an afterthought, Hollow Zangetsu grabbed the soul before it could self-destruct and crushed it himself, an expression of satisfaction making its way across his face before he landed, creating a small depression in the ground from the impact.

"Nice one," Ichigo commented, Hollow Zangetsu grinned, hooking his thumbs in his pockets and relaxing into a casual posture now that the danger had passed.

Soul transformed as well, standing beside Maka. The pair was breathing somewhat heavily thanks to the battle they had been participating in for the past few hours and the strain their bodies had been under.

"Next time," Soul suggested dryly, "we should scout the surrounding area before waltzing into the town."

"You think?" Maka replied, matching Soul's tone exactly.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the two began to bicker lightly, released the pent-up stress and tension the fight had built up within them. Realizing that the duo would be at it for at least a minute longer, Ichigo turned to Hollow Zangetsu.

"After this, we need to comb the woods and find one for Dr. Stein."

**"I know. You get those two weaklings back to the school; I'll handle getting the hol-" **the sword spirit quickly stopped and corrected himself, **"-monster."**

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and Hollow Zangetsu gave him an irritated look.

**"Hey, I want some action. Standing around and doing nothing has never been an activity I particularly enjoy, so what else were you expecting?"**

"Fine, it's your decision. Just try not to kill all of them before you try and capture one."

**"Che. Have a little faith."**

Ichigo rolled his eyes but Maka and Soul drew his attention once more as the substitute Shinigami realized that Maka had asked him a question.

"What?"

"I asked how old you are," Maka repeated. "You look nineteen to me, but stupid Soul keeps saying you're at least twenty-one, but that would make you old enough to be a teacher at the DWMA."

Ichigo blinked and turned to Hollow Zangetsu but the Zanpakutō offered him no support.

"I'm . . . nineteen," Ichigo said, deciding to go with the younger age since it would make it easier to talk with Maka, who was clearly far younger than Ichigo was.

"HA!" Maka said, invading Soul's personal space and poking him on the chest. "I told you, didn't?"

"Ah, whatever," Soul muttered. "Know-it-all," he added under his breath. Upon seeing Maka's suspicious look, however, he grinned nervously and backed off. "H-hey, Maka, no need to get annoyed at me; stay cool, you know?"

Maka's eyes narrowed further before her expression cleared and she turned back to Ichigo.

"So, what's the plan?"

"We'll contact the DWMA to let them know about the monsters here," Ichigo said, thinking for less than a second. "Zangetsu will stay behind to make sure that the villagers here stay safe while reinforcements come, and then he'll meet me back in Death City."

"You're not going together?" Maka asked, apparently surprised. Ichigo took a moment to curse mentally, realizing that weapons and meisters probably didn't separate in dangerous situations very much.

"I have a spare regular blade," Ichigo lied, thinking of his oversized trench knife from his shikai that he couldn't access without releasing one of his limiters. "If it comes to it, we can always run. Zangetsu and I are good at fighting separately, anyway."

"Hey, are you guys twin brothers?" Soul asked.

"Yeah. The weapon gene went to Zangetsu and apparently messed up his physical traits." Ichigo wasn't exactly winging it at this point; his research had shown that the weapon gene could affect physical appearance, though cases as extreme as Zangetsu's were few and far between. There were less than five ever documented according to one of the books that Ichigo had received from the DWMA.

"That's cool," Soul commented, giving Hollow Zangetsu a once-over.

**"Whatever," **Zangetsu said, crossing his arms. He glanced at Ichigo. **"Get going. The longer you stay here the longer I have to, and you know that I'm not patient."**

"Relax."

Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu held a brief, silent conversation in which they agreed to signal each other if something went wrong before they separated. Hollow Zangetsu turned and walked towards the center of town to meet with the village elders while Ichigo lead Maka and Soul out of the village, towards the road that would lead them back to the DWMA where they could get reinforcements.

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><p><em>AN That's a wrap for today. Hope you lot enjoyed the action._

**_Reviews:_**

_**Qui**: What is with people reviewing my stories in French? I don't speak French, and translators are terrible with common speech. Nevertheless, I appreciate the review._

_**yanagy**: This story shouldn't go nearly as long as my other ones. It's supposed to be simple, and just a fun little side project of mine. That doesn't mean I won't try to make it a nice, interesting, complete story._

_**yeatolazytologin**: Yeah, Ichigo's got both his swords like in the manga, he just keeps Zangetsu sealed most of the time so it doesn't appear as though he has two weapons instead of the usual one. Ichigo will be interacting with the main group to a limited extent, though it will mostly be Maka and company trying to figure out who Ichigo is. No problem with the no pairing thing; I know the struggle of trying to find stories with no romance._

_And now I shall go rot my brain with video games. Adios for a week or two!_

_-RoR_

**_P.S._**_ For those of you that have read _Rewind_, I spent a lot of time procrastinating my studying for exams by typing for it. Two more chapters done, people! At this rate I'll finish this arc and the next one before I come back from hiatus. But don't get me started on _Rift_. I'll get to it eventually._

**_Please review._**


	6. Chapter 6

_I gotta say, it's pretty awesome to have so much time between updates. Really helps stress, you know?_

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

"So," Ichigo said from the shadows, leaning against the wall and regarding the man sitting a few meters away with a cool stare. "Thoughts?"

Stein spun around in his chair, draping his arms across it as he stared right back at Ichigo. Behind him, the lone computer screen in the room glowed with dim light, creating a startling offset to the lack of other illumination. Ichigo had no problem standing in the dark and Hollow Zangetsu didn't either, though the sword spirit was currently posing as Ichigo's weapon to avoid making Stein too curious about his appearance.

For some reason, whenever Ichigo really looked at Stein, he was reminded of a disturbing mixture between Kisuke Urahara and Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

It wasn't a good mixture.

"It's certainly an unusual creature," Stein admitted. "Like nothing I have ever dissected before. The hole in its body appears to cut through it, but does not hinder the creature at all; muscles function around it without any added strain or difficulty as though the hole wasn't there at all. The mask is even stranger; I have chipped off pieces of it, and the creature has reacted quite negatively to that. When I went to study the material of the mask, it broke apart and disintegrated before I could figure out what it was. By the time I return to the creature, its mask has been repaired by means I don't understand yet."

Ichigo nodded in acknowledgement while he stewed in his own thoughts.

Without doubt, he was dealing with hollows. For some reason, he had held the vain hope that maybe a witch or something had simply gotten too close to the look of a hollow while creating some sort of minion. The odd souls certainly lead to that idea.

"One other thing," Stein said, glancing back at his computer for a moment. "I attempted to examine the hollow's soul without killing it."

Ichigo stiffened out of sheer reflex, but it was unnoticeable enough for Stein to have missed it. If Ichigo had been lucky. Which he usually wasn't, despite Ikkaku's insistence.

"And what did you find out from that?" The substitute Shinigami said, keeping his voice carefully controlled.

"Whatever soul that hollow possesses is incomplete and heavily damaged, almost as though it has been modified and controlled to some degree. There is something else about it that I will need more time to examine."

"You've already had three days. It's going to find a way to escape soon."

"I don't doubt it," Stein said, a small, disturbed grin crossing his face for a brief second before disappearing. "I hope to discover more about its intelligence that way."

"Good luck with that," Ichigo said flatly. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then pushed off the wall. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"See you then."

As Ichigo had come to expect, Stein's tone of voice, expression, and body language were impossible to interpret.

Stein, watching Ichigo leave, felt the exact same way about Ichigo's behavior. But to him, Ichigo's oddities were nothing more than information that could be put together to form a concrete conclusion.

Stein wanted to unravel what made Ichigo tick. It was a mystery that the scientist was eager to solve.

* * *

><p>Ichigo leapt from building to building, never actually landing on the roofs; instead, the substitute Shinigami used a thin layer of solidified Reishi - which this world had plenty of, much to Ichigo's satisfaction - to cushion his fall and as a surface to jump off. It was a silent way of moving, one that Ichigo had perfected in combat and carried over to his normal life without realizing.<p>

Hollow Zangetsu ran next to Ichigo, the hollow's face a mask of thought. He had sobered incredibly during the war and while Ichigo had been sealed, so that while he was still prone to bouts of nigh-insatiable bloodlust and insanity and incredibly unstable mentalities, he could think logically. Ichigo trusted him, which spoke volumes about Hollow Zangetsu's progress.

**"Stein's getting more and more suspicious every day,"** Hollow Zangetsu said. **"He's not ignorant; he'll figure it out, or at least get close."**

"I'll deal with that when the time comes," Ichigo replied flatly. However, Hollow Zangetsu was perfectly capable of seeing the way Ichigo's expression tightened minutely in irritation and trepidation.

**"Whatever you say, King."**

With that, the matter dropped and conversation died for the remainder of the duo's trip to the DWMA. Ichigo slowed to a stop when he hit the stairs, suddenly feeling as though he needed to drag out his trip to meet with Death (and wasn't that an interesting thought?). Hollow Zangetsu followed suit, sensing that his partner wanted to enjoy the peace of the nice early afternoon while he could.

Above, the sun laughed with ageless amusement at the Earth as thin, wispy clouds drifted across the beautiful blue expanse. Ichigo, however, kept his gaze to the area around him instead of upwards.

It took the substitute Shinigami only a few more minutes to ascend the stairs, walk through the halls of the DWMA (and ignore the stares he got from curious students), and get to Death's door. Suppressing a sigh at the very idea of knocking on Death's door, Ichigo brought up a hand and rapped his knuckles against the wood. He heard a voice saying, "Come in, come in!" and entered, making sure the door closed behind him.

He was greeted by the sight of Sid and Death sitting across from each other at a small wooden table. They both had steaming drinks in front of them that Ichigo quickly identified as tea.

The thought of seeing a zombie and Death sitting across from each other could have been funny, but Ichigo wasn't in the mood for thoughts like that and he quickly crushed them.

"Ah, Ichigo!" Death said, turning to face the other resident Shinigami. "Good of you to come."

"You called me here," Ichigo replied, his tone flat as he stopped a few meters away from the table. Hollow Zangetsu stopped a step behind his partner, his bored expression obvious.

"That's right!" Death said brightly, though his voice did make it difficult to sound anything but cheery. "I wanted to talk to you about the recent crisis in the nearby village!"

"The one that was attacked by hollows," Sid clarified. "Lord Death wants to know exactly what happened."

Ichigo briefly thought of Maka and Soul, the two people that had been in that village for far longer than he had.

Though Ichigo had given no indication of his thoughts, Sid continued anyway. "We've already talked to Maka and Soul about the situation, and they've given their report. Lord Death wanted confirmation of their story."

"I arrived pretty late into the attack," Ichigo said, slipping into a more rigid and respectful posture out of sheer habit. "Therefore, my information is only what I saw."

"That's fine."

Lord Death watched, apparently content to simply listen as Ichigo spoke and outlined the events that had occurred in the village. The Shinigami's expression - though nothing more than a mask - seemed to grow darker the longer Ichigo spoke.

When Ichigo finished, the room descended into silence filled with thought. After about two minutes, Sid finally talked, speaking at a slow pace as he thought through the words.

"You're saying that the souls of these hollows are destroyed when they die? That they cannot be consumed by weapons like Kishin eggs?"

Ichigo nodded in confirmation. "Every time I killed a hollow, its soul appeared as a small white ball-like object that rapidly brightened and swelled before cracking and exploding in an unstable mess of energy."

The substitute Shinigami's expression became even more thoughtful.

"Honestly, I'm not sure why that's happening. Zangetsu and I have battled hollows before, and they never exploded like this. It's almost-" Ichigo cut himself off.

"No, no need to be modest," Death prodded. "Continue."

Ichigo sighed. "I don't like speculating because there's always a chance that I'm wrong."

"There's also a chance that you're right!"

Ichigo suppressed a roll of his eyes. Hollow Zangetsu, unsurprisingly, did not.

"Fine, then. My blade is designed to combat hollows. Normally, when I kill a hollow, it is sent to my version of the afterlife, no matter what dimension I kill it in. Here, however, there is something off about the hollows. They are acting strangely, not in the patterns that I remember. They're behaving as a group, as though they're being led by some stronger power."

"You have experience with these things being led by something stronger?" Sid asked. Ichigo turned a deceptively blank look on the zombie.

"Yes." His tone invited no further prodding into that area of discussion, and Sid was fine to leave it at that. "Anyway, I don't understand why the hollows' souls are being destroyed. I'm not a Quincy," Ichigo added as an aside, the words too quiet for the other occupants of the room to hear.

"What was that?" Death inquired, tilting his head to one side.

"Nothing," Ichigo said. "I just want to figure out where the hollows are coming from. If I can do that,I might be able to figure out why their souls are getting destroyed, and vice versa."

"Stein will be able to find something," Sid said. "He hasn't let us down before."

"Whatever you say," Ichigo agreed boredly.

The air went still for no more than ten seconds before it was disturbed again.

"So, Ichigo," Death said with his usual odd cheeriness. "What are you planning on doing now?"

The substitute Shinigami took a minute to mull over the question and exchanged a silent word or two with his partner.

"I'm going to set up barriers around Death City," Ichigo eventually said. "Death, I'm sure your very presence will draw the dumber hollows here. While I know most meisters are more than capable of defeating the weaker hollows - and probably some of the stronger ones - it's better not to take the chance. Then I'm going to scout the nearby villages and towns to see if I can pick up on a hollow's Reiatsu signature."

"Reiatsu?" Sid repeated, looking about as confused as his largely petrified features would allow.

Ichigo frowned to himself in annoyance. "I meant soul wavelength. I should be able to sense it and track whatever hollows I come across. If things go well, there's even a chance that I can track down whatever being is responsible for this, because these hollows are clearly not working on their own."

"Would you like support?" Death asked. "I have several meisters that could use field experience."

"Once I scout an area and see that it's safe enough, I'll send for one," Ichigo said, his expression turning unreadable. "I don't want to risk bringing a weaker fighter into a battle they're not prepared for."

"Stein has already begun teaching his class about hollows," Sid pointed out.

"There's a difference between learning about something and fighting it," Ichigo replied flatly. His words cut off any further discussion in that area, and without another word Ichigo turned to leave.

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><p>Ichigo wondered, in the back of his mind, what Sid had been like when he was alive. The zombie teacher seemed like an amicable enough guy but a skilled combatant when he needed to be. His personality was somewhat odd at times - especially his habit of repeating, "that's the kind of man I was" - but he was serious at all the right moments and Ichigo could respect the natural authority Sid commanded. He wasn't weak or inexperienced.<p>

**"So we're finally gonna get some action,"** Hollow Zangetsu mused, walking with his thumbs looped over his pockets and an overall very relaxed posture. Even so, the hollow managed to exude an air of stay the fuck away.

"We already did," Ichigo said, giving a pointed look towards Sid who was walking a few meters ahead. The teacher had said that he wanted to show Ichigo a back way in and out of the DWMA so that the substitute Shinigami wouldn't have to go through the main entrance and get stared at every time.

**"That didn't really count,"** Hollow Zangetsu said dismissively, waving a hand in the air before returning it to his pocket. **"Besides, whoever's controlling the hollows might actually be worth a fight."**

"Careful what you wish for," Ichigo muttered, though it didn't seem as though the words were necessarily directed at his hollow counterpart.

Ahead of the pair, Sid abruptly stopped walking before breaking into a sprint. Exchanging a glance, Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu followed suit, keeping pace with the undead man easily.

When Sid stopped, Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu did as well. In front of them, smoke drifted lazily into the air, temporarily obscuring the sun that - as always - was laughing with seemingly sadistic mirth. Ichigo found the gleam in the sun's eyes concerning, but since it was the sun, he decided to ignore it in favor of focusing on the fight in front of him.

Ichigo easily picked out the two combatants: they were paused in their battle, the last attack having separated the two and creating a lull in the fighting. They were of muscular build, though the one with blond hair was slightly taller and heavier set than the one with mousy brown hair. Ichigo estimated that they probably came up to his chin in height, though it was difficult to know for sure since they were bent over and some distance away.

The blond one carried an intimidating battleax that shone in the sunlight, while the other had a moderately sized metallic spear with more blades protruding out the back for extra offensive capability.

"A weaker long range weapon and a strong one designed for close combat," Ichigo mused aloud. "An interesting match up." The substitute turned to look at Sid, who looked remarkably calm given that two meisters were fighting right in front of him. "What's going on?"

"Students can initiate fights as long as there is a teacher present," Sid explained offhandedly. "These two are waiting for each other to recover so they can look better now that I've arrived."

One of Ichigo's eyebrows crept up. "They do this to show off to their professors?"

"Typically, no. And I wouldn't accept this kind of showing off as anything positive - that's the kind of man I was. These two are fighting for an entirely different reason; actually, I don't think they're waiting for me at all."

Ichigo's expression returned to one of neutrality as he detected a girl approaching quickly. She arrived moments later, gasping and panting while another girl with long black hair covering half her face and black markings all over her body stopped next to her. The first girl was rather attractive, with a figure that rivalled what Ichigo remembered of Orihime's before the war had taken its toll. The second was clearly some sort of weapon, judging from the way she automatically deferred to the other. The raven-haired girl glowed and then transformed into a stylized claymore with an obsidian hilt and gleaming silver blade.

Hollow Zangetsu made a quiet noise of appreciation at the sight of the weapon, automatically comparing it to the cleaver and wondering which one was heavier.

"Don't interfere," Ichigo said, holding out a hand and stopping the blonde girl in her tracks. She shot him a glare.

"Don't interfere?" The girl repeated. "Those are my teammates, and the only reason they're fighting is to see who can go on a date with me! Of course I'm going to interfere and stop those two idiots!"

"No, you're not," Ichigo said, making solid eye contact with the girl. The girl blanched as Ichigo's features seemed to take on a far more menacing cast and his whole demeanor darkened for a split second, like a cloud covering the sun. Then it passed, and the girl wondered in the back of her shocked mind whether that had really been an illusion or the actual boy beneath the mask.

"F-fine," she stammered, heeding the warnings her weapon was sending her. Apparently, that boy was strong. The blonde risked a look to the boy's right, where a copy in white stood. The white-haired boy seemed to sense her gaze and he glanced at her with a sadistic grin that promised painpainpain.

The girl hastily looked away, taking comfort in the fact that Sid was there. If anything bad happened, the instructor would take care of it.

After seeing that the blonde girl had arrived, the two boys had begun fighting again, displaying impressive skill with their weapons as they used every advantage they could get to overwhelm their opponent.

The one with the ax appeared to be at a disadvantage because of his shorter reach, but his reflexes proved to be a huge asset to him as he ducked and dodged the spear thrusts and got within range of the spearman.

Ichigo watched impassively, ignoring the way the blonde girl was getting tenser and tenser with every passing moment.

In his mind, the substitute Shinigami was analyzing the situation. Both boys looked to be incredibly angry, and judging from some of the insults and taunts that were being thrown around, that wasn't going to change any time soon. The meisters didn't appear to be thinking entirely clearly, since numerous attacks would have already been critical - perhaps even fatal if the wounded person was unlucky - had the opponent not dodged in time.

After two more minutes, Ichigo deemed that the spar was no longer a spar. It was a flat-out fight over something stupid that neither boy was willing to back out of because of pride or to save face.

Ichigo didn't care either way. After a glance at Sid to confirm that the instructor was thinking the same thing, Ichigo looked to Hollow Zangetsu. An instant later, Ichigo held his familiar sealed blade in his hands. The substitute Shinigami could feel the blonde girl's eyes on the blade, appraising it. Her weapon was probably doing the same.

**"King, they're going for it!"**

Ichigo heeded Hollow Zangetsu's warning and turned to the boys just in time to see them separate and initiate odd stances.

"Soul resonance!" The boys yelled.

"That's not good," Sid muttered. Ichigo paid attention to the teacher's words more so than he did the boys' next declarations, probably the names of their techniques.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed. "Zangetsu, you ready?"

**"Always. Get a move on, already!"**

Ichigo darted forward, slipping into Shunpo automatically as the boys lunged at each other with dramatically increased speed and power. Their enhanced blades whistled through the air with deadly intent.

Ichigo slid between the boys with ease, ignoring the shout of worry from the blonde girl who looked to be two seconds away from breaking away from Sid and running out to somehow help Ichigo. It was a noble idea, but pointless. There was no way she would make it in time to do anything but clean up the aftermath.

The attacks collided as Ichigo raised his blade to block and the entire area became obscured in an explosion of dust.

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><p><em>AN And that's it for today. Enjoy the cliffhanger!_

_Elise477: A fight between Kid and Ichigo (and possibly Black Star) may happen at some point as some kind of spar, but no guarantees._

_You guys are really . . . conservative with your reviews. Anyway, next chapter'll be in about two weeks, maybe a little more._

_-RoR_

**_Please review._**


	7. Chapter 7

_Well, since most of my favorite stories updated today, I figured that I might as well upload this chapter. Enjoy!_

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

"Are you two stupid?"

Maka stared, having stopped beside Sid on her way out to find Soul—the idiot hadn't shown up for class again and Stein had given her permission to look for him for twenty minutes. Her eyes were fixated on the orange-haired man standing between two meisters and their weapons, his eyes blazing as his sword held the massive battleaxe and spear with barely any sign of strain at all.

Maka had briefly seen Ichigo annoyed. She had seen him irritated. She had even seen him in the midst of battle.

But she had never seen him genuinely angry, and though the boy wasn't furious, he was clearly far more pissed off than his default scowl would vouch for. His expression was far darker, almost thunderous behind the carefully crafted mask of barely sustained calm.

"You were really going for the kill," Ichigo continued, his words laced with reproach. With a flick of his wrist, Ichigo sent the two boys skidding back in opposite directions. The demonstration clearly showed his incredible strength and Maka found herself wondering how strong Ichigo actually was. What level meister was he?

"Shut up!" The brown boy brandished his spear, his eyes darting to the blonde girl on the sidelines before focusing back on Ichigo. "You don't know anything that's going on here. Let us finish our match!"

"I can't do that," Ichigo replied coldly, his tone sending a shiver of fear down Maka's spine. His very presence made Maka feel as though someone was holding a blade to her neck, but when she instinctively brought up a hand to check there was nothing there.

"Now," continued Ichigo, his voice deathly quiet yet carrying to every corner of the square, "you two are going to back up. Your weapons are going to transform back into people, and then you're going to shake hands and apologize to your third teammate because I am sure she does _not_ want to deal with this bullshit. Is that clear?"

And there was something else in Ichigo's words, something Maka barely picked up on, that made the girl's instincts tell her to listen and do exactly as Ichigo said. There was some kind of authority there, an authority that made the two boys step away from Ichigo.

The orange-haired boy straightened and let go of Zangetsu, who promptly returned to his human form. His cold eyes swept over the two boys and his words left no room for argument. "Shake hands. Apologize."

As the two weapons transformed back into people, the two meisters awkwardly shook hands and then looked at the blonde girl. She had walked closer during Ichigo's mini-speech, her partner now walking beside her as a girl once more. Her expression was pained.

"Sorry," muttered the two boys, unable to look her in the eye.

The sound of two slaps—followed quickly by two more—made Maka wince. The blonde girl lowered her hand as did her partner, and the two boys and their weapons didn't move their heads for a few moments as their cheeks gradually began to redden.

"You _idiots_!" The blonde girl shouted, looking as though she really wanted to slap them again. "If you needed to talk something out then tell me! Don't do this stupid fight-to-the-death-manly-bullcrap! Come on, we're a _team_! We work together and we cover each other's backs—we don't try and kill each other!"

All four participants in the fight had the decency to look ashamed.

Maka blinked, and then realized that Ichigo was no longer there. His partner was also nowhere to be found. She glanced at Sid, wondering if the teacher knew where Ichigo had gone, but the zombie looked just as confused.

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><p><strong>"You really put fear into them," <strong>Hollow Zangetsu commented dryly. **"Why did we have to leave, again?"**

"I didn't feel like watching them kiss and make up," replied Ichigo, matching Hollow Zangetsu's tone exactly with little apparent effort. "Besides, the sooner I get barriers up around Death City the sooner I can go out and scout for whatever the hell is stupid enough to work with hollows."

**"And Stein?"**

Ichigo hesitated in his journey to the edge of the city, an unidentifiable emotion crossing his features before they smoothed out again. "I'll check in with him before I go. He might have some information that could be useful."

**"He reminds you of Kisuke and that creepy captain of the Twelfth, doesn't he?"**

"Yeah." Ichigo's tone was pained, and hollow Zangetsu knew that it wasn't because of the mention of Mayuri Kurotsuchi. "He does."

**"Tch. No need to get so worked up about it."**

Ichigo shot his partner an irritated look. "You're the one that brought it up."

**"You're the one that's getting all emotional."**

"I am not getting emotional. Now shut up - we're at the edge of the city and I need to focus."

Hollow Zangetsu rolled his eyes, taking a seat on the ground as he and Ichigo stopped using Shunpo and - to any observers - simply seemed to appear a few meters from the last of the buildings, kicking up a small amount of sand in the process.

Meanwhile, Ichigo took a deep breath, drawing on the reserves of Reiryoku he could access with his seals in place and while his Zanpakutō was in a sealed state. They were easily that of a captain, which would suffice for the Bakudō that Ichigo planned on using. Hacchi, the Bakudō master from the Visored, had done a good job of helping Ichigo with his dismal Bakudō skills, and now Ichigo was more than capable of creating barriers.

The substitute Shinigami kept a tight reign on his power even as he pictured his goal in his mind's eye, molding his Reiryoku into the right patterns while he muttered under his breath.

Hollow Zangetsu didn't react in the slightest when Death City suddenly seemed to be trapped in a massive, translucent, glowing orange box that completely encompassed it on all visible sides - and, if Ichigo was as thorough as Hollow Zangetsu expected him to be - and underground. Ichigo said something else, his brow knitting in concentration as the barrier shimmered for a moment before fading from view.

The substitute Shinigami staggered slightly, a sheen of sweat on his forehead, but he quickly recovered his balance and continued to refine the Bakudō, making it so that normal people, meisters, and weapons could all pass through it.

**"Don't forget the Shinigami," **Hollow Zangetsu drawled, drawing a pattern in the sign. Ichigo made a wordless noise of acknowledgement.

A few minutes later, Ichigo let out a deep breath, stepped back, and collapsed. Hollow Ichigo was by his side in an instant, catching Ichigo and lowering him to the ground.

**"You should've at least unsealed some of your Reiryoku," **the hollow said. **"It would've stopped you from getting so dizzy."**

"Yeah," said Ichigo, breathing heavily as his body began to quickly recover from the sudden exertion, "but then the whole city would've felt my Reiatsu."

**"They already did when you put up that barrier."**

"They would've felt more."

Hollow Zangetsu considered that. **"Whatever, King. You ready to head out?"**

Ichigo got to his feet, brushing off some of the sand that stubbornly clung to his clothes. "Yeah, in a minute. I'll just grab some supplies for the trip - back in a minute." The substitute Shinigami vanished in a flicker of Shunpo, his movement silent. Hollow Zangetsu sighed and sat back down, deciding to watch the sky and the somewhat disturbing sun until his King returned and they could leave.

* * *

><p>Maka, Soul, and Black Star - who had been talking with Soul by the steps leading up to the Academy - froze in their tracks, Stein's punishment for being late forgotten as their eyes shot to the sky.<p>

Meisters and weapon saw the sky shimmer and become slightly obscured by a translucent orange barrier.

"What is that?" Maka asked, her voice trembling as the _power_ behind the barrier washed over her. It didn't feel precisely like a soul should; there was something indescribably different about the pressure, something Maka couldn't identify. At the same time, however, it was incredibly familiar.

"Looks like a barrier," noted Soul. "But what's it doing up now? Are we under attack?"

"Whoever put it up has to be really strong," declared Black Star. "And clearly not as great of an assassin as me - that is way too easy to see!"

An instant later, the barrier faded from view, but neither Maka nor Soul was under the impression that the barrier was actually gone.

"Maka! Soul!"

Maka and Soul turned to see Death the Kid striding up to them, Patti and Liz a few steps behind. The former looked rather intimidated as her gaze kept darting up to the sky and back down again.

"You know what that was?" Soul asked, regarding Death the Kid with a curious look. It stood to reason that the son of Death - and extraordinarily powerful being - would have some idea of what the powerful barrier and pressure meant.

The group's hopes were dashed when Death the Kid shook his head negatively. "Apologies, but no. I was on my way to see my father to ask about it when I noticed you four standing out here." His expression never changed. "Would you like to come along? Professor Stein has allowed us to miss today's class, though we will have to work harder tomorrow in compensation."

"Of course we wanna come along!" Black Star shouted, invading Death the Kid's personal space with comical ease. "Why wouldn't we, huh?!"

"Right then," Death the Kid said with a sigh as he casually pushed Black Star away from him. "Let's go."

The group of four - now seven - made its way back into the DWMA, skirting the areas where the most people were likely to be in order to make better time. After all, Maka was still vainly hoping that she could make it back to Stein's class before it ended.

Death would probably have a short explanation for the barrier.

Hopefully.

Maka snapped out of those thoughts. Of course Death would have an explanation; if he didn't, he would have put the meisters and weapons on alert from what could have been an attack directly on Death City.

Death let the group into his room and greeted them cheerfully as they arranged themselves accordingly.

"What seems to be the problem?" Death inquired, tilting his head with exaggerated movement. "You all look rather tense, you know!"

"Father, you sensed that surge in power outside earlier," Death the Kid said, his words more of a statement than a question. "What was the cause of it? Clearly, it was not an attack, or we would have been warned. So the only explanation is that you ordered the installation of that barrier."

Maka opened her mouth to add on to Death the Kid's words, only to close her mouth when she realized that she really had nothing to add.

"Ah, the barrier," Death mused, tapping the lower part of his mask with an oversized and blockish finger. "Yes, of course. You see, I hired a meister of considerable power recently from one of our more distant allies. He had been off training before and was unavailable, but with the emergence of a new threat he has agreed to assist us. He even agreed to put up a barrier around Death City that will prevent creatures from attacking the inhabitants!"

"What's his name?" Kid asked calmly.

Maka suddenly made the connection. She had been thinking about the feeling of familiarity she had felt upon sensing the energy from the barrier, and it had finally hit her. The energy felt remarkably like that of the orange-haired boy who had helped her - Ichigo. It was far more potent than it had been at that time, of course, and more so than it had been some time before when Ichigo had intervened in a spar gone wrong.

_So he's a transfer? I guess that explains his odd hair . . . and if he was training for so long, that could explain his power. What level meister is he?_

"Ichigo," Maka supplied, having raced through those thoughts in an instant. Upon realizing that the others were staring at her, she quickly elaborated. "Ichigo's the guy that Lord Death is talking about. You know, the guy with orange hair who's been walking around?"

"Ah. He had a twin, right?" Death the Kid asked. "The similarity between them is so satisfying. It's simply perfect."

Maka, Soul, and Black Star exchanged a look while Kid lost himself in his fascination with symmetry and Patti and Liz waited with baited breath for a possible breakdown. None of them wanted to point out the glaring difference between Ichigo and his partner; namely, the color.

Luckily, Kid pulled himself out of his daydreams soon enough and resumed focus on the conversation with remarkable speed. "So if this 'Ichigo' is the one you hired to create the barrier, why has he been here for so long?"

"And why was he at Stein's house?" Maka put in, recalling the instance in which she had literally fallen into Ichigo.

Death was silent for a minute, prompting the meisters and weapons to grow suitably suspicious of whatever he was eventually going to say.

"He decided to come early!"

Death looked around with apparent hope, but let out a barely audible sigh when he realized that absolutely no one believed him.

"Alright, I had to try. Simply put, Ichigo has come here from far away to assist us with the emergence of the hollows."

"You already said that," said Black Star, a mutinous expression on his face.

"Indeed I did. And that is all I will say! Any more information that you youngsters want to get should come from Ichigo himself!"

"But he just left," pointed out Soul. "Maka sensed him leaving."

Maka nodded in confirmation of Soul's statement.

"Well, we'll chase him down!"

"No you shall not, Black Star," admonished Death. "Ichigo is completing an important task and he will not be disturbed."

"Maybe he needs to be disturbed. C'mon guys, let's-"

_THWACK!_

Black Star crouched on the ground, his eyes squeezed tightly in pain while he clutched his head.

"If you keep this up," Death warned, "I'm going to punish you."

"Usually, you're supposed to warn people _before_ you follow through on your threat," muttered Soul, though he didn't seem eager to step closer to Death.

"Fine, fine," conceded Black Star with a groan. "I'll wait for him to get back here. But he'd better hurry up because we've got a lot of questions!"

"We do?" Asked Death the Kid.

"You all should go back to class," said Death, his words ringing with authority. "If anything comes up, you will be informed." His demeanor abruptly became far more positive. "Enjoy yourselves!"

"Sure we will," grumbled Soul, turning to leave alongside everyone else.

* * *

><p><em>AN That's it for today. I haven't started the next chapter yet, but I'll get it up eventually._

_Reviews:_

_JJN37: I think I've touched on a Black Star vs. Ichigo fight before; I won't say anything on the possibility of whether there will be one or not._

_ultima-owner: Yeah, it wasn't much of a cliffhanger knowing Ichigo. He's too damn strong._

_Until next time,_

_-RoR_

**_Please review._**


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